unity Communist Party TUC daily
Wednesday 13 September 2006
Action needed to save jobs and manufacturing Kevin Halpin F a c t o ry closures and the e x p o rt of jobs continue apace. Not because firms are in the red – far from it. No, the c l o s u res are because transnational corporations are always engaged in a relentless drive to maximise profit. They seek to cut costs, employ cheaper labour, spend less on health and safety and other ‘ o v e rhead’ expenses. At the same time, City financial institutions export huge amounts of capital overseas to invest in pro p e rt y speculation, oil, banking, retailing, cheap raw materials and sweated labour. British governments could take measures against the deindustrialisation of Britain and the super-exploitation of workers overseas. For example, if Peugeot transfers production fro m Ryton to eastern Europe and
then exports cars to Britain, the company should face p rohibitive levies and taxes. Another option would be to f reeze the export of its pro f i t s f rom Britain, leaving its capital to lie dormant – for big business this is a crime! But this is only part of the solution. Govern m e n t i n t e rvention is needed to take over viable enterprises which g reedy employers want to cut or close altogether. Public money should always be matched by a public stake. These are just some of the policies put forw a rd by the Communist Party in the LeftWing Programme. It should not be forgotten that after capitalist owners had bled the ship-building, motor car and aircraft industries dry in the 1960s, it was a Labour government which had to take these strategic industries into public ownership in the 1970s. They
were put back to work after a massive infusion of public capital – only for the Tories to sell them at knock-down prices. Coal and rail industries would have to shut down t o m o rrow if the govern m e n t ’s massive subsidies were withdrawn. Large sectors of the armaments and construction industries would collapse if they weren’t guaranteed fat profits by public sector contracts. Yet New Labour and the CBI have the nerve to lecture trade unions and public sector workers about the so-called ‘independent’ and ‘wealthcreating’ private sector! The Amicus and TGWU call for a boycott of Peugeot p roducts is a step in the right d i rection. Why should workers e v e ry w h e re not hit back when their jobs, livelihood and communities are threatened? When some on the ultra-left accuse unions of jingoism,
they are standing i n t e rnationalism on its head. Allowing the transnationals to drive down wages and conditions pre p a res the g round for non-unionism. Despite weaknesses, British trade unionism can take pride in its internationalism, especially in the oldest imperialist country of all. The union-led campaign to pro t e c t and unionise migrant workers here is a credit to our labour movement, standing in sharp contrast to the New Labour government’s shameful scapegoating of immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees. Our capacity for i n t e rnationalist action weakens every time a unionised workplace is shut and work is transferred to non-union or super-exploited labour. Kevin Halpin is industri a l o rganiser of the Communist Party